Just like different categories of murder there are different degrees and seriousness of rape. (Julian Assange type situation V A man breaking into a house and raping a woman at knifepoint).

The problem is rape is a very emotive subject and whatever he said when he opened his mouth was going to be the wrong thing.

Personally, I think if the woman was unwilling they should all get the rope as you are never going to adjust the mindset of a rapist and this is where Ken Clarke is wrong. Five years and a 50% reduction on your sentence if you plead guilty is an outrage to all the victims.

The other outrageous figure is the 6% conviction rate. And that's what the tabloids should be going mad about.

Just like different categories of murder there are different degrees and seriousness of rape. (Julian Assange type situation V A man breaking into a house and raping a woman at knifepoint).

The problem is rape is a very emotive subject and whatever he said when he opened his mouth was going to be the wrong thing.

Personally, I think if the woman was unwilling they should all get the rope as you are never going to adjust the mindset of a rapist and this is where Ken Clarke is wrong. Five years and a 50% reduction on your sentence if you plead guilty is an outrage to all the victims.

The other outrageous figure is the 6% conviction rate. And that's what the tabloids should be going mad about.

I cannot remember such a mendacious, factually incorrect and unwarranted attack on a politician by the Labour Party, some tabloids and "the wimmin".
I listened to Clarke's radio interview and the quotes of his "comments" are just not true. The man was just talking common sense, albeit in a clumsy way.
Rape is so hard to prove ( and Clarke has been a prosecutor and defence counsel in his time) that even the most obvious chancer will plead not guilty and, with legal aid, spin out a case for months, even years. If a perv is faced with ten years, he has little to loose by fighting the case to the end. If on the other hand he is faced with 5 years if he pleads guilty now or ten if he goes to trial, at least he will be off of the streets.
As for differences in the severity of rape--well, it has to be redefined, anyone who has engaged in sex with a women who has had too much to drink is a candidate for a rape charge, as are kids under 16. Not really comparable with the type of predators often listed on this site.

Ken Clarke wasn't very popular when he introduced VAT onto our fuel bills years ago. However, he's well over the hill now and looking a bit disheveled and should retire immediately, and not be an embarrassment to the government.

While there may be different circumstances surrounding a rape, the offence is still the same. Rape will ALWAYS be rape.

If a sixteen year old boy has sex with his fifteen year old girlfriend this is classed as rape. The impression I got from the radio interview was that he was saying the average jail time for rapes was inclusive of cases such as these and as such the figures were twisted as people assume they are all for "classic" rapes.

I think he is right to distinguish between rape and underage sex. The problem with date rape is obviously that it is more difficult to prove, but should be looked upon as no less severe than "classic" rape, i.e. grabbing someone off the street.

He has spoken foolishly, but a lot of this has been blown out of context. This stuff has to be addressed. But I strongly disagree with reducing prison time for a guilty plea. Violent rapists should hang.

If a sixteen year old boy has sex with his fifteen year old girlfriend this is classed as rape. The impression I got from the radio interview was that he was saying the average jail time for rapes was inclusive of cases such as these and as such the figures were twisted as people assume they are all for "classic" rapes.

I think he is right to distinguish between rape and underage sex. The problem with date rape is obviously that it is more difficult to prove, but should be looked upon as no less severe than "classic" rape, i.e. grabbing someone off the street.

He has spoken foolishly, but a lot of this has been blown out of context. This stuff has to be addressed. But I strongly disagree with reducing prison time for a guilty plea. Violent rapists should hang.

Sorry, Concerned Englander, I should have differentiated in my previous post - I was referring to non consensual sex. Consensual underage sex is different from rape/non consensual sex, & I don't think underage consensual sex should be classed as rape either. But non consensual sex is ALWAYS rape, whatever the age of the victim.